The Wild Valentine
by The Fangirling Bookworm
Summary: Five Magicians pull off the greatest tricks ever, but is love a trick? Disclaimer: I own nothing :)
1. Chapter 1

**_Chapter One: Tarot Cards Lead to Introductions_**

_Coming close...Closer... Because the more you think you see, the easier it will be to fool you. Because, what is seeing? You're looking but what you're really doing is filtering, interpreting, searching for meaning. My job? To take that most precious gift you give me: your attention and use it against you._

_-J. Daniel Atlas_

The crowd loved her. She jumped through a burning hoop and onto a trampoline as two rows of assistants caught and threw daggers for her to jump dodge. Cheering. She lived for that thrill of the people loving her. One. Two. Three! A triple back flip.

"A.V.! I have a rose for you," a planted assistant called from the crowd.

"Well, folks, it seems I have an admirer," she smirked, brushing her dark brown hair from her face. The people cheered even louder.

"Should I bring it over, my love?"

"No, that wouldn't be needed," she smirked; the rose appearing in her hand. The crowd appeared in her hand. "Now, folks, every magician needs a hat, even the ladies!" The rose turned into a stereotypical magician hat, causing an even louder cacophony of mixed voices.

A double backflip into the air and she vanished.

"Ayla Valentine, everyone!" the announcer gave the magician her name.

Ayla walked over to her black distressed genuine leather messenger back. She pulled out her phone but instead found a strange tarot card with the Eye of Horus on it, reading:

_MARCH 29_

_4:44 PM_

_45 EAST EVAN ST._

_NY, NY_

"Hmm, someone wants to meet me," she muttered out loud.

* * *

Sunglasses on, Ayla walked on the street almost passing a familiar face.

"Henley? Henley Reeves?" Ayla lifted her maroon glasses, shock on her face.

"Yes, um, who are you?" Henley said, Starbucks in hand.

"A huge fan. I've seen your shows before. You are _way_ better off without J. Daniel Atlas."

"Oh, well, thank you. Are you just a passerby or-"

"I see you received a card as well," the tarot card appeared in Ayla's hand, which was six feet away from Henley. "_The High Priestess_. Interesting."

"Nice trick," a voice behind the girls said, "Henley?"

"Danny? Hey," she breathed.

_The sexual tension better clear up later_, Ayla thought as the two ignored her, catching up like good old pals.

"Hey. You, uh, you got a card, too, huh?" Daniel said. She smiled brightly and gestured to it with the coffee behind the card. He nodded, "That's good for you. Congratulations." Daniel walked briskly past the two girls, patting Henley on the shoulder as she scoffed at the action.

"Where do you think you're going, mister?" Ayla said

"Alright. Here's what I'mma do... I'mma go inside and scope the place out. You two will wait outside. Wait for me to get back to you. Okay? Okay."

"Hold on, you," Ayla grabbed his arm.

"I'm not your assistant anymore, Danny," Henley gave him a look. He nodded, understanding they were both on an equal magic level. The two girls brushed past him.

"Do you wonder who else got a card?" Henley asked Ayla as they walked up the stairs of the apartment complex. They saw an older man, probably in his late forties, early fifties.

"Well, obviously not just us," Daniel said.

"Okay, so apparently none of us was the only one chosen. Let me be the first one to kick my ego to the curb," he said.

"Not our fault. We all just must be excellent at magic," Ayla said.

Daniel just walked straight to the door but the older guy told him it was locked, not that he was listened to anyways.

"Ooh," his eyes set on Henley, "You. Now don't tell me. Helen? No, no. Henley."

"It's on your coffee cup," Daniel told her. Henley lifted up the coffee to see her name scribbled on with sharpie.

"You're keeping me honest. That wasn't mentalism; by the way that was an observation. Second observation, you are _beautiful_." He was showing her the affection Daniel didn't, he didn't even stray from her eyes as he said the words.

"Thank you," Henley said as Daniel simultaneously said, "That's nice, very polished; nice bit. J. Daniel Atlas. Nice to meet you." Daniel held out his hand to the mystery guy only to have the finger thrown out into his face.

"Mentalism," Ayla said out loud suddenly, "Mental-ism. Mental_ism. _How can there be a belief in mentality?" The other three gave her an odd stare. "Think about it- Oh, wait! I know you! You're Merritt McKinley, the mentalist.

"And I'm sensing he is a control freak," Merritt gestured, his eyes on Ayla.

"Hm, have we met before?" Daniel looked at the mentalist before Henley interjected: "It doesn't take a mentalist to figure that out. You _are_ a control freak."

"Well, I take that as a compliment," he bowed his head in a mocking thank you.

Ayla sensed an argument or so. "I realized that I've not introduced myself." She bowed gracefully, "Ayla Valentine, or" –she looked up- "A.V. as the crowd demands." The smirk tugged at her lips. "They were magician and assistant until something arose."

"I was too fat for Danny," Henley stated bluntly.

"No, no I said that once," he defended himself.

"Doesn't matter, cupcake. You don't say that to a _girl_," Ayla threw at him.

"No one could fit through the door!" Henley told the other female.

Daniel spoke to grab her attention again, "Rebecca fit through the door."

"Comparing her to another girl. Wow, J. Daniel Atlas. You obviously have zero experience with women. Let me ask you: Do you kiss your mother with those lips?" Ayla raised her perfectly trimmed eye brow at him.

Suddenly everyone heard footsteps. It was a really young guy, probably Ayla's age 18 or older. He was the epitome of mysterious in his Brooklyn gear.

"No way. J. Daniel Atlas," the guy breathed, noticing Daniel before the other three people. "I've seen everything you've ever done. You, you're like – I idolize you!"

"A true fan," Daniel smirked at the others, not having seen Ayla fawning over Henley upon the first meeting. The girls just rolled their eyes at him, clearly annoyed at the air of arrogance not seeming to leave Daniel like a skunk and it's scent.

The magician and his fan shook hands, "I'm Jack, by the way." His gazed turned to a pretty brunette with stunning brown eyes.

"Ayla," she gave him a slight wave.

"Henley," she nodded.

"Merritt," he waved his hands. "Question: Did you get one of these?" Merritt held up his card that read _The Hermit_.

"Yeah," Jack grabbed his card from his back pocket like it had appeared there only days before. "_Death_."

"_The High Priestess_."

"I'm _The Lover_," Daniel said. But Henley coughed: "Three minutes." He gave her the _Are-you-serious_ look.

"_The Observer_," Ayla read off hers, but Merritt rolled his eyes, obviously been in her mind where the unspoken thoughts lay.

"_Hermit_."

"So, so what? Are we-are we just waiting here for someone? Why are we just-" everyone cut off Jack.

"Door's locked."

"Oh, no, no. Nothing's _ever_ locked." He bent down and used a thin pin to unlock the door in a matter of seconds. Daniel hummed thoughtfully as to why _he_ hadn't thought of that; maybe he just wasn't apt in breaking and entering.

All five magicians walked into the apartment, flashlights in hand. Henley checked out the bathrooms, Ayla the bedrooms, Merritt the hallways, Daniel to the living room, and Jack walked in last. Daniel crouched down as everyone came into the room.

"What's it say, Dannyboy?" Ayla asked.

Daniel scowled at the name, "_Now you don't_."

Ayla looked at him confused, "What could that mean?"

"I'd like to find out."

Henley picked up the white flower of innocence, "A rose by any other name." Ayla noticed her newly found colleague was well versed in Shakespeare. Henley put the flower in a nearby water pitcher filled with water on the ground. Water leaked out of the pitcher to set off a mechanism that released some sort of fog.

"Whoa," everyone grinned at different times.

"It's a gas," Jack observed.

"Chill," Ayla smirked, "It's only dry ice."

"Cool," Henley breathed, taking in the sight.

"Wait. What do you think this is all about?" Daniel asked.

"Hang on, hang on," Merritt gave a thoughtful face. "I've got nothin'."

"Thanks for that, Merritt," Ayla said.

"Thank you for the delay," Daniel continued the sarcasm.

"I'm just trying to create the space for wisdom."

"Okay, so you're like Buddha. If only he wasn't so enlightened."

"Oh, and you're like Jesus if he was arrogant in all of his miracles and his miracles were fake."

"And you both are like a married couple, arguing so damn much."

"Okay, let's be honest, _Lover_," Henley cut in, "Danny, did you do this?"

"No," he said, "Did either of you?" He noticed not to ask Henley because she asked the question first.

"Nope. How could I have?" Ayla stared at the fog, bending down to glimpse at the mechanism.

"I wish," Jack added, staring at the brunette wishing that he did in fact pull the trick so he could impress a pretty lady.

"Henley, did you?" Ayla asked but the redhead shook her head.

"Why didn't anyone ask me if I did it?" Merritt asked.

"Let's just say you're not the sharpest tool in the shed, _Hermit_."

Everyone started to look around for subtle tricks, gimmicks, anything that would prove this to either be a dangerous trap or prank. Daniel walked over to turn the lights on but to no avail.

"Electricity must be out," Ayla noticed.

"They don't call you the observer for nothing," Jack said.

"Well, let's check." Merritt turned a light bulb to have to it go on, which it did. Lights flashed from different areas in the wall.

"Must be projections," Ayla noted as a series of projected blueprints appeared in the middle of the circle the five had formed. "They're incredible."

"Who do you think did this?" Jack asked, looking at the awe in Ayla's eyes shine.

"I don't know but I want to meet them," Henley answered in awe. "It's a show!"

Danny touched a piece that suddenly floated into the middle.

* * *

**_Author's_ Note:** _So first story. Let me know what you think :-)_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two: The Five Horsemen, Act I  
**_

_Jack and Ayla watched worked cart in money to a van where Henley and Daniel were hiding in. The couple was dressed as the security. Ayla nodded agreement and the two were on a plane to Paris with Merritt while Henley and Daniel were stuck in an uncomfortable position on a cargo plane._

_I'll meet you both there," Merritt smirked, grabbing a duffle bag with the French policeman costume in it._

_Merritt stopped the van with his mentalism powers Daniel still didn't believe in despite it being a year already._

_Henley stabbed a worker with a syringe, knocking him out. She and Daniel then pushed the Euros off of them._

_Jack and Ayla opened the van doors._

"_Hey, boys," Henley smirked as their scheme when right._

_The five horsemen replaced the Euros with flash money._

"_Time to get the victim," Jack said._

_Merritt walked by Etienne Forcier, muttering on Bluetooth to the tech wizard [Jack] about the Las Vegas: "Aller __à Las Vegas__."_

_Daniel walked past Forcier, throwing chips in the air._

"_Oh, j'ai ador_é_ le spectacle_ à_ Las Vegas, en Am__érique!__," Ayla hooked herself on Jack's arm as they walked the steps ofParis._

"_Henley, Forcier is walking down the steps now," Jack called at her over her mic._

"_On my way," Henley bumped into Forcier, "I got his measurements."_

* * *

_Merritt McKinley, J. Daniel Atlas, Henley Reeves, Jack Wilder, and Ayla Valentine. Arthur Tresler and MGM Grand Hotel proudly present The Five Horsemen!_

The crowd cheered vivaciously as the Five Horsemen walked about all over the stage in all directions.

Merritt in his collared shirt with the first buttons undone, black slacks, black shoes, and blazer cross walked the stage close to the crowd near the south wing of the stage, "Thank you, thank you all. Now we would like to do something that would, well, set us five a bit apart."

"For our final trick, we're going to do something never before seen on a Las Vegas stage," Henley walked to upstage centre to the crowd in her long black blazer ending at her dress hem and short black cocktail dress with strappy heels to pose for the audience with her short black gloves always hiding her hands. Her red hair was tied up to the side, resting on her shoulder.

"Or any stage for that matter," Ayla beamed at the vivacious crowd, cross walking the stage through the centre below the dais, just near the stairs. She also wore a short black cocktail dress, a leather jacket ending above her hips, and black ankle boots. She paused in front of section B to glimpse at their poor, poor victim.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Jack began. He dashed across to meet a certain brunette his gaze was fixated on. His black collared shirt and slacks were connected together by a pair of black suspenders, and under his slacks were a pair of black Supras. Jack quickly pressed a kiss to Ayla's head before getting a running start to jump high-five Merrit.

"Tonight, we are going to rob a bank," Daniel finished at centre stage. He was in his prime with the black magician coat and black v-neck with black slacks and shoes. He flapped his arms about to the audience, making them scream even louder than before. Daniel glanced at the screens above each section: Henley looked like a model with her hair spinning around her face as she smirked into the camera; Merritt smirked into the camera as well with his arm across his torso, his other elbow resting on his wrist; Daniel remained stoic with an air of superiority around him; and Jack and Ayla were in the same shot doing a Charlie's Angels pose with their backs turned to each other and gun motions with their hands.

"That's a lot of excitement for a crime!" Ayla noted.

"That's because I'm excited, sweetheart," Jack ran and spun her around to make her laugh. "Are you people excited?" The crowd cheered even louder.

"Please, please, settle down," Daniel smirked, "Who here has a bank they would like us to rob?" Nearly everyone in the crowd raised their hands.

Ayla laughed, "That's a lot of people with a vendetta against their bank."

"We'll choose one at random. My associates will help me make sure it's random," Daniel said. He stepped away from centre for Ayla to be there to catch the ping pong balls.

"Elvis, help me out, bro," Jack stopped at a random audience member. He picked a section number and Jack quickly switched out the balls with the one up his sleeve.

"Now, in Jack's bowl there are section numbers. Jack, could you please toss Ayla the ball?"

"Section B because letters are definitely numbers, right, Daniel?" The audience laughed at their banter. Daniel just rolled his eyes.

"Alright. Where is section B?" Section B stood up and waved dramatically with extremely loud sound. "Okay, there. It's gonna be one of you guys. I don't know why everybody's happy. It's only them." Daniel spun around, throwing up casino chips only to have them disappear in midair and into the audience. "Merritt, can she get a row please?"

Merritt took a ball from a pretty, young woman. He held the ball she chose and threw a different one.

"Thank you, Merritt," Ayla said, catching the ping pong ball, "Dannyboy, we've got row number five."

"Alright, row number five says the girl who needs to stop calling me that. Henley can she get a seat number please?"

Henley let a person grab a ball from the bowl, but she made it vanish and held up the single ball.

"Thank you, Henley. We've got seat lucky number 13!" Jack came up to Ayla and kissed her cheek as she read the ball.

"Okay. B-5-13 from the couple who needs to get a room. Where are you B-5-13?" Daniel said. Ayla stuck her tongue out at him. "Aren't they just the cutest, folks?" The crowd cheered. "Really? I thought they'd be annoying."

"Oh, shut up, Daniel," Jack laughed, pecking his girlfriend on the lips before moving to get the 'magic helmet'.

"Ah, sir, please stand up. Could you confirm for me that this is your seat: B-5-13?"

"Yes," the man confirmed.

"Okay, perfect. Now could you please tell us your name and the name of your bank?"

Ayla tossed the balls in the air and they vanished, causing a round of applause from the audience that quickly quieted down.

"Well, my name is Etienne Forcier and my bank is the Credit Republican of Paris."

"Ah, en Français. Hmm, something a bit American would've worked better," Ayla said.

"It's fine though," Jack came from behind her, putting his hand on her waist and pulling her closer to him so her could kiss her cheek. "A promise is a promise.

"So some on upstage and we'll rob your bank," Daniel said, motioning him down to the stage. "And while he's doing that, there is someone here tonight and without whom, we would just be five magicians working on the circuit trying to, well, trying to get here. You all probably know this man if not from one of the many, many companies he puts his name one. He is our friend, our benefactor, Mr. Arthur Tresler! Please stand up, Arthur."

Arhur stood up in his polished suit waving gently to the crowd.

"The only man with the Queen's cell phone number," Ayla laughed.

"Please stay standing, Art. I just wanted to say that when we came to see Mr. Treseler, we promised as a unit, we could become the biggest name in magic."

"So we wanted to say thank you, and if you notice, Art, we put your name on the top of the sign out venue," Henley smiled.

"If you turn out to be as good as you think you are, dear girl, then that won't be necessary much longer," Arthur said into the microphone an usher handed him.

"We haven't done our closer yet. Why don't you watch it for yourself? Ladies and gentlemen, Arthur Tresler!"

"Thank you, and once again the cardinal of clairvoyance: Merritt McKinley," Daniel introduced.

"Etienne, what Jack has brought to the stage is what we in the magic world call a teleportation helmet," Merritt explained as Jack walked over to him. Henley and Ayla simultaneously stepped onto the centre dais with Daniel trailing behind them. "You will need this as it will literally fold through space and time to your bank on the 8th" –Etienne shook his head subtly- "9th this month. Once you're there, we will be able to speak with you through this helmet." Jack put the helmet on Etienne's head, very stylish. "That's just beautiful. It has the added effect of being stylish; it's about time the French learned from American on that subject."

Jack walked to Ayla, wrapping his arms around her middle and resting his head on her shoulder. She turned her head and kiss him on the cheek.

"But before you go anywhere, please pick a card, any card," Daniel said. Etienne almost grabbed one but was interrupted by the card dealer himself, "Not that card. Another card. American joke, you get it though. You can pick this card. Now show it to your friends in section B there but not the rest. If you could sign your name there anywhere in English please. Now put it in your pocket."

"And now for one tiny detail," Henley pulled out black scarves from her inside jacket pocket, which floated around to reveal the teleporter. The crowd erupted with cheered.

"Now, Etienne, let's step into this hot, demanding contraption," Merritt said, "and I'll just step off this now. _Bonne chance_, Etienne."

Jack and Ayla pulled the cover over the Frenchman, snug and tight. "It's 11:50pm here."

"Meaning that it's 8:50 AM there. Ten minutes before your bank opens," Ayla finished.

One.

Two.

Three.

Henley pushed the button and Mr. Forcier vanished. The crowd gasped.

"What the fuck?"

"It wasn't supposed to happen like that was it?

"I liked that little French guy."

"Where'd he go?"

"Wait, wait, wait. There he is," Daniel motioned the audience to the screen. "Etienne, it's Daniel Atlas. Can you hear me? Etienne? Are you okay?"

"Yes," he answered.

"Perfect. What do you see in there?"

"Money," he breathed. "Is this real?" Etienne touched it, picking it up in his hands.

"Yes."

"Three million Euros worth," Ayla observed.

"Now here's what we need you to do," began Daniel. "I want you to take the card you signed out of your pocket, and I want you to take the ticket stub from tonight's show. And I want you to put it right there in the middle of the money. Right there, and drop it. Now on the side of your helmet, you should feel a button. Don't press it just yet. That button activates an air duct that connects Paris to Las Vegas. Now you can press it."

"Etienne, hold on tight. You might feel a bit of a vacuum," Jack said. The money started to fly in the stage room.

"Thank you, Etienne; thank you, everyone!" Daniel exclaimed.

"We are the five horsemen! Good night!" The five bowed and vanished in thin air.

Daniel was staring out the window. Jack was taking a nap in a chair with his feet propped up on a table, taking a nap. Ayla was sitting under Jack's legs with her iPad propped up, watching _Sherlock_. Merritt was reading a book, The Savage Detective, and half asleep.

"FBI! Hands where I can see 'em!"

"FBI! Hands up!"

The FBI members pointed their guns at the Horsemen.

Henley walked down the stairs in the middle of putting on her red blazer, "Oh, my! Do one of you guys mind helping us with our bags?"

They were quickly led out the casino with every person cheering at them as they walked out, guarded by FBI members.

Jack walked slightly closer than normal to Ayla, because he was handcuffed and couldn't hold her hand. She smiled at the action and noticed Henley smirk at the couple. Only they would find a way to be cute when they were being led to an FBI unit.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **So ... I try to upload around 9PM PST_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three: Things in Motion  
**_

"_If you didn't rob that bank, which means you knew about it. So if you want to walk out of here today, I suggest you-"_

"_No, you listen to me. If you think there's a DA in the state of Nevada who'd be willing to make sense of this to a jury, then we have a show to perform. And you, Agent Rhodes, have a drawing board to get back to."_

"_You won't, because if you did, that would mean you and the FBI and your friends at Interpol actually believe at an institutional level in magic. The press would have a field day and we would be even more famous than we already are and you would look like idiots even more than you already are; well, no, not you but him. Listen, you have what we in the business like to call nothing up your sleeve and you don't."_

"_I can maintain my resolve much longer than you can maintain that phony arrogance. And the instant that you even show the slightest crack in that smug facade, I'll be there. I'll be all over you like..."_

"_Like white on rice? Sorry, that's unfair. Let me warn you. I want you to follow, because no matter what you think you might know, we will always be one step, three steps- seven steps ahead of you, and just when you think you're catching up, that's when we'll be right behind you. And at no time will you be anywhere other than exactly where I want you to be. So come close, get all over me because the closer you think you are, the less you'll actually see."_

* * *

Bored.

Ayla was bored in the interrogation room where she was being held by the FBI. White walls surrounded her with a one way glass parallel to where her body was sitting. She started to play with the chains, clearly missing something. Or at least, some_one_.

_I wonder where Jack is being held and if he fell back asleep_.

"Ah, Agent Rhodes, there you are. I was expecting you five minutes or so ago," she said. "Oh, but you" –Ayla pointed to Alma, the blonde Frenchwoman- "I did not expect. Your hands have a slight tinge to it, possibly because this is your first day in the field or you've spilled soda all over it. Your hair is tied up and always being pulled back, meaning you are spending too much time at a computer and not enough in the sun."

"That's enough about me. Onto you," Alma said in her thick French accent.

"It says here you are an illusionist and gymnast. Though it does note your-"

"Agent Rhodes, you seem a bit disoriented. Probably because you didn't want to be here interviewing me with a distraction from your-"

"-observation skills," he glared at her.

"What would you like to know then? Clearly you are angry with not being able to finish something. So, finish it now or deal with the matter at hand."

"I want to know how you five robbed a bank in Paris, _France_, when you were in Las Vegas, America." Agent Rhodes noted her black outfit, much like the others wearing black. Her brown eyes shined with yearning for that. He'll use that to his advantage. "Actually, I would like to know about your relationship with Mr. Atlas."

Ayla laughed mockingly, "I'd hardly care if he was dead or gone."

"If not him, then Mr. Jack Wilder."

That stopped her laughter. Her eyes narrowed.

"What about him?"

"I was just curious-"

"You listen to me, Agent Rhodes. I don't want you harming him at all. You will answer to me," a knife appeared in her hands. She slammed it down on his jacket and tied Alma to the chair by her arms with a scarf from her inner pocket on her jacket, much like Henley had done last night. "First rule of magic: always be the smartest person in the room."

* * *

Jack was half-asleep by the time Agent Rhodes and his accomplice from Interpol entered his holding cell.

"Ah, Agent Rhodes, why am I not surprised?" Jack said with a cheeky grin.

"Cut the crap, kid."

Jack frowned. Did _everyone_ look down on him? Well, no. No everyone he supposed. His alluring Ayla looked up to him, not just because he was taller and older. She'd always given him the most faith, especially when Danny didn't trust him to do the 'big boy' tricks.

"Well, you can persecute us without seeming like idiots, so can I take my girlfriend and just leave?"

"After we as you a few questions, Monsieur Wilder," Alma told him.

"So how'd _you_ do it?" Rhodes asked. Jack gave him a confused look. "I mean, you're obviously the mastermind of it all, so how'd you do it?"

"Agent Rhodes, flattery will get you nowhere."

"Another one who won't tell us."

"You have what we in the business like to call 'nothing up your sleeve', and you don't. I reiterate, can I take my girlfriend and leave since you obviously can't hold us here."

* * *

Jack held the gate open for Ayla as they walked out the FBI holding unit. They got into the white Bugatti cars, sliding into the back seat.

Jack kissed her, not entirely sure of what to say. They hadn't said the three words yet, but he was worried about her due to the immense care he had for her. Suddenly, the kiss got deeper and deeper until Jack was pulling off his jacket and tossing it to the ground. Ayla was leaning her back gently to the car seat.

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa there. Save it, love birds, for the hotel room," Merritt, who was driving the three, said. "I enjoy not burning my retinas."

"Oh shut your face, Merritt," Jack said, throwing their driver the finger.

Jack was distracted. Hmm, that just wouldn't do now would it. Ayla pouted and pulled him by the collar of his shirt, kissing him more fiercely, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"We are here!" Merritt screamed, practically running out of the car. The two young ones laughed him off and continued kissing until they absolutely _had_ to get out.

* * *

"Shh, Jack. I'm trying to watch," Ayla was struggling to pay attention to the TV show playing on her iPad. Jack had been a little bit... _frustrated_, so to appease that he started to trail down Ayla's neck leaving kisses. Well, it started with her sitting on his lap. But now Jack was making his best effort at leaving a hickey on her neck. "Jack," she moaned, "You-you. S-stop."

"It doesn't exactly sound like you want me to stop," Jack laughed against her skin. She moaned slightly again.

"J-Jack. We're in a jet-"

"A _private_ jet."

"With _other people_ in it."

Jack pulled away and pouted at her. Ayla rolled her eyes and kissed him full on the lips much to his enjoyment. He smiled in their kiss until…

"Oh, get a room you two!" Henley threw a pillow at them.

"Shut up, Henley!" Ayla said in between kisses.

"I'm sorry. What was that? I couldn't hear you in between your face sucking."

Ayla pulled back, "Henley, why don't you tell a certain someone to go 'do you'." She wiggled her eyebrows at the redhead, who just rolled her eyes and continued on talking to Merritt about something that made her scoff and laugh.

"Jack, Jaaack," she dragged out the vowel in his name. "There are people."

"Don't care," he continued kissing her neck.

"Jack." Moan. "Jack." Moan. "JACK!"

"Yeah? Do you really want me to stop that badly?"

"No, but-"

"My point exactly," he grinned cheekily and started again.

"Darling, you missed," Ayla pried his face off her neck and crashed their lips together in a heated lip battle.

"Gross. Look, could you guys swap spit somewhere else?" Daniel walked past the two.

"Oh, hey, Danny, can I talk to you about my role in the show real quick?" Jack stood up, knocking Ayla to the ground on her butt. "Sorry, babe." He kissed her cheek real quick.

"Yeah, later. We have a show to prepare for," Daniel said, walking over Merritt and Henley in the hallway next to Jack and Ayla.

"Oh, do we now?" Merritt asked as he stood. Daniel put his hands up and walked backwards out of the hallway.

"No, no, no. You're not doing that thing to me."

"What thing? I'm just looking at you."

"No, you're not," Daniel accused as everyone bit back a laugh. "I've been watching you for a year" – he did some eccentric gesticulation- "I know your little tricks."

"Is that what they are to you?" Merritt scoffed, "Tricks?"

"Yes! It's gimmicks; it's Barnum statements. It's reading the eyes, body language; I get it."

"If it's such an easy thing, why don't you do Henley?"

"Yeah, Danny, why don't you _do me_?" she sent a wink to Ayla for their conversation earlier. Ayla couldn't bite back her laughter and cackled into the jet, much to Danny's perplexing mood. Danny, like the sociopath he is, didn't understand what the two girls meant or why Merritt and Jack were smirking.

"No, you're too easy. I'll do Jasmine," Daniel put his hand on her shoulder.

"No, do me," Arthur said. Ayla started to laugh even more and Henley couldn't stop giggling. They couldn't imagine their precious Dannyboy doing Arthur, but it was a damn funny thought.

"Oh yea, do Art."

"Okay."

"Even better," Merritt wiggled his eyebrows.

"I will warn you: I can be difficult to read when I wanna be," Arthur told Daniel.

"Just, uh, stay with me, okay?" Daniel pointed at his eyes and then to Arthur's and then back again. Everyone had gathered around: Henley was behind Arthur, Jack had his head resting on Ayla with his arms around her waist, Merritt was sitting next to Arthur and in front of Daniel, and Jasmine was blocking the hallway to get a view. "So, Art, you were a tough kid, kind of a real" – he did fist motions like a boxer would- "rapscallion. You had a dog, a real tough dog. A brutish kind of breed. I wanna say Ben the Bulldog."

"Actually, I was a prissy little tot; I had a fluffy white cat named Snuffles."

Everyone laughed at Dannyboy's mistake. Daniel pounded the jet, feigning anger.

"Oh, wait. Wait, let me try one. I can do waay better," Jack said, laughing.

"Let 'em do it, Dannyboy. Jack can do way better," Ayla said, kissing Jack on the cheek.

"No, wait, let me do it one more time, one more time."

"He can do way better than that," Henley agreed.

"Family. Let's do family. You had an uncle on your mother's side. He had a kind of, a real masculine name, a real kind of salt of the earth, like a real stick it to you, like it was Paul Thompson? Was it a Paul-? Okay, you know what I got nothing."

"Nearly though."

"Really?

"Yeah, my uncle's name was Cushman Armistice," Arthur started laughing.

"Really? Snuffles and Cushman Armistice? That was your childhood?" Daniel gave a look of disbelief.

"I certainly hope tonight's show is going to be better than this."

"Don't worry, just you wait.

Meanwhile, Merritt the Mentalist had an intense mask on his face concentrating solely on Arthur Tresler.

* * *

_**Author's Note:** Early post today, because I have church that might last a while._


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Four**__**: The Five Horsemen, Act II**_

"Do me a favour. Visualize your most adventurous sexual experience of your life," Merritt crashed on the couch, sitting in front of Henley.

"Stay out of my head, you pervert," she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, well, no. If I stay out of your head, I'm never gonna get into your pants."

"Why don't you ask the Wild Valentine," Henley laughed. Ayla and Jack were sucking face as usual, so they had to have had _some_ weirdo wild sexual experience Merritt was craving for.

"Ha, no. I'd prefer _not_ to burn my retinas, thank you very much, my lovely Henley." Merritt rubbed his eyes. Ayla threw a pillow at Henley for saying the idea.

"Wild Valentine?" Jack asked.

"It's your ship name!"

"Ship what?" he looked to his girlfriend for some answer.

"Don't look at me. Henley is the eccentric one," Ayla responded, leaning on the arm rest and putting her legs on his lap.

"Hmm, well, how about we go to the bedroom instead then?" Jack wiggled his eyebrows and leaned to kiss Ayla again. Suddenly there was a knock on the door and all five horsemen turned to the intruder.

"Pardon the intrusion."

"Thaddeus Bradley. How lovely," Ayla rolled her eyes. Jack sighed and leaned his head against her shoulder in dejection.

"I just wanted to wish you good luck tonight." He was teetering back and forth on his toes with his hands folded nicely in front of him.

"Why? So you can expose us on your little website later?" Jack retorted.

"And on demand."

Henley scoffed, "That's not gonna happen."

"Oh no? Operating on a special plane because of The Eye? I here it's a lovely place. Lots of star shine, moonbeams, make any magician's wish come true. You've come a long way, much further than anyone would've thought for a bunch of wannabes and has-beens."

"Oh," Merritt got up, "If by 'has-been' you're referring to me; I just want to say I'm flattered because I always considered myself a 'never-was'. Do you mind if I do a quick read on you?"

"By all means."

"Uh, okay. I'm, um, picturing a little boy who wants to be a great magician someday, knows he's good but," Merritt started to pull on his jacket, "not quite good enough so he ends up at the bottom of the entertainment food chain feeding off of those who have the talent that he never did. Tell me, am I getting close?"

"Wait, before you go," Daniel stood up with his deck of cards in hand as always, "Um. I'm working on something new. Do you have a second? Uh, name a card." The other three got up again, Henley stood by Daniel and Jack stood by Merritt with Ayla on his back.

"King of hearts."

"Knew it!"

"Okay," Daniel snapped his fingers but the deck didn't move, not even a single card.

Bradley gave a condescending face, "It's up your left sleeve."

"Is it?" he checked and then showed it to the others. "No. You know what? Why don't you check your unnecessary velvet pocket there? Yeah."

Bradley pulled out the card, reading the words _Suck It_.

"Anyways, thank you so much for coming by, but this is a _talent only _area."

"Break a leg."

"Hey! You break something, too," Merritt called after him.

* * *

_Ladies and Gentlemen, the Seboy management welcomes you to tonight's special performance: The Five Horsemen, Act II. Unlike traditional performances, the Five Horsemen encourage you to film, call your friends, upload, stream, and tweet the show freely. Thank you. The show will begin in a few minutes._

Jack ran across the backstage and put down the laughing Ayla, kissing her cheek.

"Oh, my gentle steed, that was a fun ride but I think other rides can be fun," she winked at him.

"Get a room, you two," Merritt called over at them.

"Believe me, I'm trying," Jack retorted.

"I do not need _images_!"

"Positions, people. We are on in five… four… three… two…"

* * *

_Arthur Tresler presents Ayla Valentine, Jack Wilder, Henley Reeves, Daniel Atlas, and Merritt McKinley: The Five Horsemen._

"Thank you, but before we begin, we would like to thank two people in particular," Daniel began.

"A man and a woman to whom we would like to dedicate tonight's performance to," Ayla added.

"FBI Agent Dylan Rhodes and the lovely if somewhat inexperienced Interpol Agent Alma Dray, everyone," Henley introduced. The crowd booed as the light hit the two agents.

"Yeah, and Agent Rhodes has personally vowed to, quote, 'nail us'," Jack inserted.

"And we encourage him to do so if he has the brains and the fur," Merritt oh so eloquently put, causing an eruption of laughter.

"What is magic?" Daniel started up. "Our argument: nothing but targeted deception, so I want you to look as closely as possible because the tricks you are about to see may not seem connected but we assure you they are. Is what follows a hundred tricks? Or is it just one giant illusion?"

The crowd cheered vivaciously as the lights shuddered to an offsetting before a light appeared on Henley and Daniel.

Henley had a white, fluffy bunny rabbit pressed against her chest that was covered by a short black jacket over a short black dress with her glove of course.

Daniel wore a magician's outfit with a white bow tie. He stood next to a box on a stool as Henley's assistant.

"Now, Daniel, if you don't mind opening up the box," Henley instructed with a victorious smirk as he was hers now and not the opposite, "and showing everyone that it's completely empty. I'm gonna take sweet little fluffy here and put her inside this mystery box."

"And now, say the magic word," Daniel instructed.

"Abracadabra."

"And I will wave this magic wand for no apparent reason," Daniel tossed the stereotypical wand behind him. He opened the door and lid, "And Fluffy had magically vanished before your very eyes!"

Henley feigned surprise, "And now _we_'re going to debunk a few magic tricks this evening. We all, in fact, know that Fluffy alive and well" –Daniel removed the mirror hiding Fluffy- "and he miraculously appeared."

"As did the mirror that only makes the box appear as though it's empty," Daniel said as he played with the mirror, spinning it in his hands.

Men took away the box and stool as Henley stepped forward, "Now we've all heard of pulling the rabbit out of the hat, but has anyone heard of pulling a hat out of a rabbit?" Henley put the bunny rabbit forward and out appeared a magician's hat for her to wear.

* * *

Merritt stepped up to the front, "Now we're gonna need 12 courageous volunteers."

The twelve people lined up in a row for Merritt to begin.

"If you haven't experienced mass hypnosis, you're about to. And sleep, down, down, sleep." He began to pat every volunteer on the shoulder, watching them slowly drop their heads in the unconscious trance. "Now when you hear the word 'freeze', you are all football players, and your job is to tackle, dismantle, crush, tear limb from limb the quarterback. You will know who the quarterback is. He will be that one saying that word: 'freeze'. Put your hands in the middle. One, two, three, kill the quarterback. Now head on back to your seats. I have a feeling I'mma be seeing you soon!"

* * *

Jack shuffled a deck of cards, "There are two pencils out there. Hold them up high. Let me see 'em." A woman stood up as did another. "Three… Two… One." Jack shuffled the cards out of his hand and it hit the pencil right in the eye of the Joker. He then threw another card, successfully cutting the pencil up.

* * *

Daniel started to pull bubbles from his hands and tossing them into the air. Ayla took a running start in her heels and black blazer with a black tank and black trousers into the bubble. She floated to the top and the bubble popped only for her to reappear in another bubble off to the side.

* * *

Ayla started to pull out handkerchiefs from her pocket. The handkerchief started to come from her sleeve and then her shoe. _How? _The audience wondered in awe. She began to pull a mass of handkerchiefs and suddenly her jacket was a mass handkerchief then she vanished. The handkerchiefs were still spinning in the air as she disappeared backstage.

* * *

"Nice work, babe," Jack spun Ayla around.

"You too, darling," she kissed his cheek.

Neither of them saw Henley smile and look at J. Daniel Atlas. Neither did him.

"Let's go complete Act II outside before we go anywhere else," Jack winked at Ayla.

"No. No. No," Merritt covered his eyes like a child who saw his parents kiss, "I don't need _images_!"

"What's wrong, Merritt? That seems to be slowly becoming your catchphrase," Ayla laughed and kissed Jack again.

Merritt walked away on-stage, muttering something about 'sex-crazed kids'.

* * *

"At the intermission," Merritt began, "we asked you to write down your current bank balance and seal it in an envelope. Now it's time to take those envelopes out; everyone take 'em out. Now everybody, shout out your name all at once. Go!" A cacophony of voice rang about in the auditorium. "Shout 'em out." People shouted out louder. "Oh, Clemens? Franny? Dina Robertson?" They stood up. "Okay, names, names, let's go. Josepha Hickey? Josepha, I want you to focus on your balance and count from one to ten out loud." She counted to five. "Stop. Uh, is the first digit five?"

"Yes," she looked a bit skeptical as to _how did he know that_.

"Do it again but this time faster." She started to count faster, stopping at six. "Stop," Merritt raised his hand to silence her, "Six. Again."

"One. Two."

"Josepha, is your bank balance five-hundred and sixty-two dollars as of today?"

"Yeah, that's what I've got."

"Unfortunately, you're wrong."

Meanwhile, Daniel behind stage was scowling like the child he was about how Merritt's 'special ability' was actually just deducing the body language.

"He's such a _child_ at times, have you noticed?" Ayla turned to Jack.

"Yeah, but you, sweetheart, are the youngest out of _all_ of us," he laughed as she began scowling like a child to him. "It makes you even more adorable than you already are."

"Don't call me adorable! I am a demon! I live in the shadows! Fear me!" She made a feeble attempt at a hiss but Jack only chuckled and kissed her lips when she pouted at being adorable again.

"No, no, no! No more sucking faces. We have been dealing with that for seven months now! Stop it!" Henley scolded them.

"Oh, hush up, Hen. We're young," Jack did a trick and a rose made of cards appeared before Ayla. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, just as you do my lovely muse."

Henley gave an expression of mock disgust when she actually thought it was so utterly cute…

… until they were back to sucking faces. Oh, what she would give to be young and in love again for the first time, despite the couple not having said the three words.

Ayla walked out on stage with the envelope holding Arthur Tresler's balance in it.

"Now, Art, did you fill out your envelope?" Henley asked. "Well, no need. We've done it for you."

"Now, Art, I took a guess north of a hundred and forty. Am I right?" Merritt told their oh so gracious benefactor. "That is a hundred and forty million dollars by the way."

"I'm sorry, Merritt. How can he be right about his balance and everybody else be wrong?"

"I think possibly because he too is wrong. Now everybody take out your paper and use the flashlight under your seat to warm up your paper, so the correct balance starts to appear. Now, Art, don't worry. We have a flashlight for you," Merritt gestured to Jack walking on stage with the massive flashlight.

"Whoa, that is _some_ light, right folks?" Ayla commented as Jack flashed the light through the check.

"What's going on there, Daniel?" Merritt asked.

"Wait a second. This is weird. A minute ago, it said a hundred forty-four million, five hundred seventy-nine thousand and six hundred fifty-one, but not it says seventy thousand dollars less," Daniel explained, feigning a look of shock as he and Ayla held the check.

"Now, uh, Josepha, can you stand up? What is your new number?" Merritt called out to the audience member.

"Seven thousand and five hundred sixty-two dollars is now in my bank," she beamed at the paper, clearing overcome with shock at the new _higher_ bank balance.

Is it possible that Josepha's balance went up the exact amount that Art's went down?" Henley asked.

"Hey! Check it out," Ayla said.

"It's happening again," Jack started to wiggle the flashlight around and the balance went down once more.

"Is it?" Daniel was mocking the word surprise at this point.

"Wow! It is!" Henley gushed. "Art's balance has gone down another two-hundred eighty thousand!"

"Nina Robertson, what does yours say?" Merritt called out into the crowd again.

"Two hundred eighty-one thousand, four hundred seventy-seven," she barely gasped out.

Jack settled down the flashlight as Ayla tossed the check to the side.

"We have a confession to make," Henley admitted.

"She's right," Ayla sighed.

"We lied about something," Jack took Ayla's hand, smiling when she squeezed it. She was someone he'd never lie to or about.

"None of you were chosen at random," Daniel said, flapping his hands about. He really couldn't go a show without using his hands, could he?

"All of you have one thing in common," Merritt said.

"Everyone in this room was a victim of one of the hard times that hit one of America's most treasured cities," Ayla told them.

"Some of you lost your houses, cars," Merritt told them.

"Businesses," Jack added, "Your loved ones."

"But all of you were insured by the same company," Daniel told them.

"Tresler insurance," they all pointed to Arthur in a crescent motion.

"You were abandoned," Merritt said.

"You were loop-holed," Henley said, "out of your settlements."

"This is all for show, correct?" Arthur asked Henley.

"Only we're doing it on stage in front of a paying audience, then yes, it's for show," she smirked behind her hand.

"Whoa! I've got eighty-two thousand dollars on my bank account! It says so right here on my cell phone! Everybody look at you cell phones right now!" Then everyone began to open up their small phones to check their bank accounts.

"Hey! Did you do this?" Arthur pointed to Merritt, accusingly.

"How could we, Art?" Jack asked, smirking. He walked backstage.

"We don't have your password," Ayla took Jack's hand, walking back with him.

"We'd need access to information we could never get our hands on," Henley smirked and joined the duo.

"Yea, security questions like, I don't know, your mother's maiden name, or the name of your first pet," Daniel flapped his arms about.

"Where would we get that information, Art? You certainly would never tell us," Merritt smirked. Mentalism really was a gift. Merritt's smirk grew as Daniel chained down Tresler.

The cops suddenly called out as they realized Arthur Tresler had been robbed, "Stop! Nobody move!" But J. Daniel Atlas as the controlling asshole he was moved his hand about, taunting the policemen.

Agent Dylan Rhodes was the closest one and almost to the stage when he called out, "Freeze!"  
The twelve hypnotized called out, "QUATERBACK!" They tackled him straight to the ground.  
"We are The Five Horsemen!" they all bowed, "Good night!"

And with Ayla's 'magic', they disappeared into the night.

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_ _I hope you guys liked it :-)_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter Five: Pop Goes the Weasel **_

_Jack grabbed his card from his back pocket like it had appeared there only days before: "_Death_."_

* * *

Daniel walked out of Ayla and Jack's room with his hands up as he gave up on the argument.

"Daniel, I _want _to," Ayla shouted at him, her voice shrill and piercing through the night's silence. Merritt, Henley, and Jack had been eavesdropping on the two arguers for the past two hours.

"No," Daniel turned around to face her, his jacket flying at the sudden movement. His face showed utter anger and annoyance. "Just stick to the plan. His card read _Death_; yours _The Observer_. You are meant to finish with us: me, Henley, Merritt. Remember us? The main acts."

"Don't you dare. Jack is the one who is about to risk his life in order to complete the entire trick while you all distract the audience," she pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Ayla, babe," Jack walked over to her, putting his arms around her. "It's late. Daniel, just go. I'll deal with her."

"Your girlfriend," Daniel left, fuming at the complete mediocrity of Ayla not wanting to follow the plan just to be with Jack. Henley and Merritt soon followed suit, noticing that the couple needed space. Ayla was about to storm after him and slap some sense into him, literally, but then Jack stopped her by grabbing her hand.

"He doesn't understand!"

"It's okay. I'm prepared to do this. Shush, come here," Jack opened his arms for her to hug him.

"You're so-"

"Shush, I know. I know. Come, let's go to bed, yeah?" Jack brushed a lock of her brown hair out of her crying face.

"Yeah," she wiped her nose with the black sleeve of her shirt.

* * *

Merritt and Daniel were gathering papers for Jack and Ayla to burn.

"The firewall is down. Do they know about this?" Henley asked from the computer, her eyes not leaving the screens.

"They who?" Daniel asked, still frustrated from last night and frustrated in the silence and frustrated that people asked him questions instead of just assuming like he and Ayla were.

"They. Them. Whoever we're working for!" She was becoming more and more frustrated with everything going on. Her anxiety was kicking in _what if we get caught_, _what if we don't perform this correctly_.

"Who are we working for and are we prepared to go to jail for this?" Merritt dropped a stack of papers on the box where Jack and Ayla were taking papers from.

Jack took a stack of papers, looking nervously at his Tarot card. _Death_, it glared mockingly at him, _you might not survive this_. Ayla saw his face and grabbed his hand: "Hey, it's going to be alright. You're prepared for this, remember?"

"Stop being paranoid," Daniel shouted.

"Then stop shouting!" Ayla screamed at him.

"It really does happen," Merritt said, getting back to his conversation with Daniel. They could go to jail for this; _he_ went to jail for this.

"It happened to you. It doesn't mean it's going to happen to us," Daniel glared at him. He was hiding a nervous façade with an angry mask.

"Guys, I don't know if I can do this. I don't want to go to jail, you know," Jack looked at Ayla's hand, away from everyone else. He squeezed her hand, a message telling her that he cared for her so much.

"Then, don't screw up. You're always talking about how you wanted to be treated like an adult, now might be a good time to start acting like one," Daniel told him, angrily. "Stick to the plan." He looked to Ayla with a glare. "Stay here and it all," he turned back to Jack, "_Alone_."

"I don't know what I'm doing here," Merritt tossed papers into the fire, angrily in hope that burning something would resolve his anger. Everyone was just frustrated, angry, anxious. No one was working correctly anymore.

"Well, I don't know what you would do anywhere else," Daniel snapped back.

"I'm here for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. That's it. Then I'm gone."

"You can do whatever you want when this is over, Merritt, but until then, you stick to the plan," Henley interjected. She really didn't want to go to jail.

"Hey, guys. Uh, they're here," Daniel said after peeking out the window. He was nervous.

Four of the five horsemen walked out the building, hailing for a cab. Ayla threw her things in the cab after Henley scooted in next to Daniel. She was about to get in, but everything changed when she disappeared.

Daniel got out the car, "Ayla! Goddamnit."

"Daniel, let's go," Henley gave him a hard look. He growled, getting back in the cab next to her. He scowled as Merritt vanished and replaced him in the driver's seat.

Ayla appeared in front of FBI Agent Dylan Rhodes. He looked shocked for a moment before pushing the box that formerly held the papers to burn at her. She looked scared but Jack grabbed her and they disappeared, only to appear around the corner where Rhodes hit Jack with the leg of a broken chair that Ayla tore apart last night. Jack fell down, dragging Ayla with him.

"Sorry, darling," she said as she noticed what Rhodes hit him with.

"It's alright. Sorry for getting you in this mess," Jack said.

"I wanted to be here."

"Really?" Rhodes looked at them.

"Yes, really," they said simultaneously. Jack took out cards and began to cut Rhodes with the ninja star-like papers. Ayla pulled out the flash paper she made the night before with nitrocellulose and household items. She began to throw the flash paper at Rhode's face so he wouldn't be able to grab anything and use it to harm Jack again. Jack threw a card at the other FBI agent just to hear Ayla laugh one more time before they died.

"You little…" Rhodes called after them before chasing them down the hallways.

Jack ran down the stairs, half dragging Ayla and half looking back to see how far Rhodes was. He opened the latch for her to get in and she kissed him quickly. Jack saw Rhodes and jumped in after Ayla. He reached the garbage with Rhodes on his back.

"Jack, darling," Ayla picked him up and grabbed the papers he dropped, "Let's go."

Jack scrambled to get up, barely managing to kick Rhodes in the face. They ran down the corridor and up the stairs onto the trash bin. Gymnastics and Brooklyn really helped out the duo as they ran from the FBI. Jack and Ayla were faster than Rhodes in their younger ages. Jack managed to pick up Ayla and run with her on his back, quicker and more sufficiently than he thought.

Ayla was running down the stairs into the workers' unit where everything was quiet and quaint until they had run in. Jack was looking up to where Rhodes had gone, and then turned to Ayla when he saw she was just standing there:

"Go run! I'll hold him off. Secure something for us to run away," Jack winked at her and kissed her cheek. Ayla kissed his lips really quickly and ran off.

She tried to play it off cool, looking at the black combat boots she was wearing. Jack's leather jacket around her was supposed to make her incognito, inconspicuous, unnoticed.

"Hey!" An FBI agent with his associate noted her face and grabbed her shoulder, preventing her from moving.

Ayla knocked his hand off, cuffing them to the handcuffs in her pocket. _A lady's always got to have handcuffs. _The associate started to try and grab her but she stopped him with another pair of handcuffs. She got into the passenger seat as Jack ran into the situation. He saw her getting in the standard FBI car and got into the driver's seat.

"Ready, sweetheart?" Jack grabbed her hand as he began to drive.

"I'm always ready when I'm with you," she smiled, squeezing his hand to comfort them both. They hadn't said the three words yet, because they were scared. Pulling off a scam for thousands across America to enjoy? Easy. Saying _'I love you_'? They both had a problem. What if the other didn't say it back? What if it was all just a trick? He had pulled small, beginner magician tricks in order to impress her and gift her with cute little things. He just loved to see her smile, but the tricks were just to make her smile, they weren't to trick her so that she'd sleep with him.

"Turn here so that we stay North and reach the others," Ayla instructed him, though she knew he knew what he was doing and she really shouldn't have been instructing him because she didn't even know how to drive. "Jack, get on the 59th street!"

"Where are Daniel and Henley?" Jack asked.

"Right there! Speed ahead of them and in front of Merritt."

Jack did as he was told, speeding even farther to let Merritt drop the false FBI car. They drove off together to the rendezvous point.

Jack got out of the car, moving to the passenger's door to open Ayla's door for her. She took his hand and he pulled her into a hug.

"I can't imagine what would've happened if you died," she voiced his thoughts. His words were twisted, his mouth dry. They could have done something wrong and have gotten caught or they could have been the ones to flip over and explode instead of them.

Jack buried his head into the crook of her neck, closing his eyes, "I love you so much."

Ayla pulled away, holding him by the shoulders at arm's length, "Wait. What?"

"I-I-I," Jack stuttered. He regained composition and spoke confidently, "Ayla Nicole Valentine, I love you so very much. You are my heart and love. I-"

Ayla cut him off with a kiss, "I love you, too, Jack."

"You do?"

"Yes," she nodded furiously.

"Yes? Yes!" Jack held her face in his hands and kissed her.

* * *

_**Author's Notes: **So I'm not going to update for the rest of this weekend. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry._


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter Six: Trauma in the Mist of a Plan**_

_Today the unfolding story of a popular and controversial group of magicians who have been fast capturing the public's imagination took a dark turn when a police action that began in Chinatown developed into a dramatic high-speed chase across the 59__th__ street bridge which caused a fatal collision that took the lives of Jack Wilder and Ayla Valentine, two of the so-called Five Horsemen. The whereabouts of the other three Horsemen remain unknown at this time._

Ayla sat at on the couch, watching the television before the others got there. She was currently chewing on her hair, a nervous habit of hers since she was little. Jack was in the kitchen on the phone with Henley.

"Henley," Jack tried, "Henley. Henley." He sighed, looking to Ayla and her nervous habit. He stood there in a loose, cotton long-sleeve shirt and loose dark wash jeans with his black sports socks on.

_That could have been us. We could have been arrested._

Ayla's face tried to remain stoic but her eyes spoke a thousand more words than a picture could ever speak. The sleeves of Jack's leather jacket were rolled up tightly to her elbows, her long sleeve black shirt was being tugged at by her hands, her pants had water marks from when she was crying and her ballet socks exposed her dainty feet.

Jack sighed, hanging up on Henley. How was he going to tell Ayla about the others? He rubbed his face and picked up the courage to walk over to her.

"Ayla," He sat down with her on the couch. She didn't respond. "Ayla, sweetheart." She didn't look at him, so he lifted her face to look at him, "Ayla, sweetheart, look. We're not dead. We're alive. Okay? Don't cry." She buried her face in his neck, apologizing for crying over something so trivial. "Ayla, sweetheart" – he sighed – "Henley, Daniel, and Merritt. They're, um, not going to come here. Henley said that Merritt told them that us being with them could expose the plan."

"So, we're doing this alone?" She looked up at him.

"We were going to do this alone anyways," Jack told her. "Hey, I know what will make you happy. Stand up."

"What?"

"You heard me, stand up, lazy bone Jones."

Ayla smiled. Her mom used to call her that. Ayla stood up, "Now what?"

"_Now what?_," Jack mocked a face of offense, "This is the best part!"

Jack took her in his arms and spun her out like the dancers do in movies, except his 'alluring Ayla' was extremely clumsy. She tripped over the carpet and sent them both flying to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I'm such a klutz," she said in between giggles.

"That you are, but a beautiful klutz you are," he leaned down to kiss her.

Ayla smiled as he kissed her, "I love you, Jack."

"I love you, too my alluring Ayla."

* * *

"Let's go rob the FBI!" Ayla shouted out the window, laughing.

"Shush," Jack pulled her back in, "Someone could hear you."

He started to spin her all around the living room area. Jack gently put her down and kissed her on the lips.

He laughed with her as they got into the black Mercedes Benz CLS Class.

Jack petted the interior of the car, "This baby has a high horsepower. We could go so fast."

"Boys and their toys," Ayla shook her head.

* * *

Ayla wore a black spaghetti strapped tank with black shorts and a tan pair of leggings underneath tucked into her black knee-high boots. She took the backpack as Jack held the hammer in a sleeve on his black dark wash jeans. Ayla took the beanie off his head and onto hers. Jack also wore a black long-sleeved shirt. The duo had matching gloves so that they wouldn't get caught – Ayla's idea.

Jack and Ayla walked into the room with the safe. An FBI agent was 'playing' the violin. Jack threw the hammer at the mirror.

"You have no idea how hot you look right then and there," Ayla told him as she got out the tools to open the safe.

Jack opened up the safe in an instant. He pulled off his glasses and hoodie, leaving his collar up, "Holy shit."

Ayla, who was turned around looking out for security, turned to him, "That is a lot of cash."

Jack threw a bag at her and they began to load up the money.

"Alright. All done. Let's go frame an asshole," Ayla smiled.

* * *

"Why are we watching this part?" Ayla asked Jack. "It's so boring. They actually think they're ahead."

"Shh," Jack covered her mouth with his hands, putting the binoculars to his eyes. Ayla rolled her eyes and watched the agents get flustered up. "I love that you put the scarf trick in there."

"The amateur magician tricks can be so much fun." She held out one of the ear pieces to him, "want to listen?" Jack grabbed the ear piece and they laughed as the FBI agent Dylan Rhodes got flustered over balloon animals.

Jack moved Ayla's face so that she was look at him. His eyes radiated what his soul felt: true love. He _truly_ did love Ayla with his entire heart and soul. She looked into his eyes with the same look before they slowly closed as the two leaned in to seal their unspoken love with a kiss.

_Who doesn't love a good magic trick?_ Said by the infamous Thaddeus Bradley.

* * *

Ayla and Jack smirked, running to the parking lot to Bradley's car.

"Let's fill up this guy's car with cash," Ayla said.

"You know, it sounds as if he's keeping the cash and running away from it instead of being framed or finding it," Jack told her.

After they were finished shoving the cash into the car, Ayla stepped back with a thoughtful look on her face.

Jack went up to her and kissed her lips, "Penny for your thoughts?"

"I'm just wondering how we are going to close the doors."

"How about like this?" Jack simply closed the door. "Tada!"

The door opened again, spilling all the cash.

"You were saying," Ayla gestured to the difficult doors.

The couple stood there, thinking about what do to when suddenly Ayla had an epiphany.

"Maybe we could do this," she went to the trunk and shoved cash there. She closed the doors and presto! It worked.

"My alluring Ayla is also amazingly apt," Jack said.

"And my jesting Jack just- just," Ayla pouted, "J is hard. How about double u!"

"Sweetheart, it's W, not 'double u'," Jack laughed, kissing her pout.

"Same thing," she waved her arms about.

"Wilder is writes words in his wordage to wheedle a woman!"

"My alluring Ayla is very smart."

"I am yours and only yours."

Ayla pulled him by the shirt and kissed him before they ran off to the park to finally catch up with Henley and the others.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Sorry for not updating on the weekend but I don't do weekend updates._

_So sorry that this chapter is on the short side also. I just really wanted this chapter separate from the one with everyone together again. I'll try to add more length to tomorrow's chapter :-)_

_Oh, and there's only one more chapter. It's going to be up tomorrow at the same time: 9:00 PM PST._

_**AmeliaPond1997**__: Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you like it._


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter Seven**__**: So Welcome, Welcome to the Eye**_

_The story of life is quicker than the blink of an eye, the story of love is hello. Goodbye._

_Jimi Hendrix_

* * *

Henley walked up to the gate of Central park in her black get up. She examined the lock with her typical black gloves matching her attire, "It's locked."

Jack walked up to them, beaming, "Weren't you listening? Nothing's ever locked." He quickly unlocked the barrier blocking him and Ayla from their friends.

"Ah!" Merritt exclaimed upon seeing the couple. He wondered what could make Ayla look all flustered after being with Jack. _Alone_. For _hours_ while they worked on their goodbye distraction to the crowd.

"Well done, Mr. Wilder," Henley clapped congratulations for the young man, noticing what Merritt noticed about the girl. "Good work."

"Stop smirking," Ayla told them as they entered. She hugged Henley and Daniel and Merritt. "It's nice to see you guys, too."

"You're a big boy now, Jack," Merritt smirked before Ayla hit him on the shoulder.

* * *

"What if all this is leading up to us getting mugged in Central Park at 2 A.M.?" Merritt asked as the five roamed around the outside, clueless to where the object they needed to find was.

"No, I'm telling you, we are right where we need to be. We just have to find-" Daniel began turning away from the nature and looking outward to the machines, mainly the carousel.

"That?" Henley asked?

"The Lionel Shrike tree," Ayla read aloud as an observation.

"And the card encased in glass," Jack said.

"He went to such great lengths for prestidigitation," Ayla shook her head, sorrowful for the man who drowned in the midst of a great plan.

"What do we do now?" Merritt asked, flapping his hands about as Daniel usually did.

Henley took out her _The High Priestess_ card. Daniel, noticing her actions, did the same. Jack and Ayla followed suit as did Merritt. Jack's card fell onto Henley's, Ayla's fell onto Jack's, Merritt's fell onto Ayla's, and Daniel's fell into place last. _The Lover_ going on first, meaning to say that the Five had grown accustomed to one another and just loved one another like a family. Also, the Tarot cards fell into chronological order of age. Henley, Jack, Ayla and then t restarted with Merritt and then Daniel.

Henley waved the Tarot card in front of the Lionel Shrike tree, curious as to what was going to happen. Suddenly, music started. Lights turned on, shining on the plastic animals: there were lions and tigers and bears, oh my.

The Five Horsemen walked to the now turned on carousel a bit cautiously. Maybe Merritt was right. Maybe they'd get mugged. It was like a horror movie and they were going to get slaughtered by priests in black cloaks from a secret Satanist cult.

That thought sent a shiver down Ayla's back, so Jack put his jacket on her. He kissed her cheek and squeezed her hand, letting her know he was there for her.

"By the way," Ayla whispered in his ear. "That carousel isn't the only think that's turned on."

Jack bit his lip to bite back a groan as Ayla walked with the others to find none other than FBI Agent Dylan Rhodes himself.

"Oh, my god. I did not see that coming. That's impossible!" Merritt exclaimed, gasping in shock.

"No freaking way," Jack said, pointing repeatedly at Rhodes.

"That was," Daniel struggled to find the right words, "actually pretty good."

"Thanks," Rhodes said and he meant that.

"So when I said, always be the smartest guy in the room-" Daniel began to ask.

"We were in agreement," Rhodes nodded.

Daniel looked off to the trees, curious as to how Rhodes had enough time to settle this idea. He mouthes: _oh, okay_.

Dylan shook Henley's hand, "Henley."

Henley opened her mouth to say some words but she was too shocked, star struck, speechless.

"I've never seen her speechless," Daniel smirked. Henley wanted to hit him but she couldn't take her eyes off of the mastermind of their plans.

She tried to attempt words but words were her enemy and failing her, "I-i-i-"

"I take that as a huge compliment," Dylan said.

"So when _I _noticed Alma as your distraction?" Ayla asked.

"You pieced together that I am the Sixth Horsemen or a part of some magician society or the mastermind of your plan," he answered with a smirk, praising himself.

"Hey, man. I am so sorry for kicking your ass. Really I am," Jack apologized.

Ayla and Dylan laughed. Ayla kissed him on the cheek for being adorable in his responses.

"Hey, listen. For the record, I-i have always been a 100% believer in the amount of energy I have extended to keep these infidels on point," Merritt told the Eye member. Henley punched him on the arm. Looks like she regained motion and whatnot. Merritt pointed to Henley, mocking a condescending authoritative tone.

"Merritt, you're in," Dylan told him. "Come."

The Five Horsemen followed Rhodes in to the carousel room. He stopped in front of the carousel: "The real magic is taking five strong solo acts and making them work together. And that's exactly what you did. So welcome. Welcome to the Eye."

Dylan Rhodes disappeared, much like Ayla had been doing. Her magic trick signified their entrance to the Eye.

Jack grabbed her hand, kissing it lightly before jumping onto the carousel and disappearing for good.

Ayla followed him, love shining pure in her eyes.

The Five Horsemen appeared in a new area, perfect for magic and for them to try out new magic tricks and whatnot. They gasped in awe at everything.

Jack grabbed Ayla's hand once more, not letting go this time, "My love, I love you with all my heart."

Ayla squeezed his hand, turning to him, "You are my heart, forever and always. To the moon and back and forevermore."

"Always."

Love wasn't a trick for these two. The loved one another and nothing would separate them, not even death. Jack and Ayla loved each other more than words could describe and for their entire lives.

* * *

_**Author's Note:**__ So the story is over now! Thank you everyone for liking it. Thank you especially to those who favourited and followed the story _

_Keep out for anything else I write and I hope you like my other stories if I do write more!_


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